Computer systems such as virtual machines (VMs) executing in virtualized computing environments (VCEs) such as cloud computing environments may look like any physical, networked or standalone computer system such as a personal computing device and are therefore equally susceptible to any kind of cyber-attack if not properly protected. For example, a VM may become infected by malware communicated via network communication or when a user opens an infected email attachment or connects to malicious websites. Once a VM is infected it may become part of a group of collectively controlled systems such as a “botnet” for use by an adversary or hacker to coordinate further cyber-attacks on other systems communicatively connected to compromised systems, such as via the Internet.
Thus there is a need to protect such virtualized computer systems from such attacks.